HONOLULU — Animal rights activists claim meat sold in Hawai'i as "Island Produced Pork" often comes from mistreated pigs shipped in cramped, filthy containers from the Mainland.

Animal-protection groups launched a campaign Tuesday to stop the long-distance transport of livestock.

State agriculture officials say that while some pigs die on the voyage from California to Hawai'i, they haven't observed cruelty to animals.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals argues that it's inhumane to keep animals in shipping containers for a four- or five-day voyage when there's a clear possibility that some of them will die, said Dena Jones, the group's program manager.

"When they arrive in Honolulu, some are injured, some have lost weight because of inadequate food or dehydration, and some are dead on arrival," Jones said. "To be shipping animals under these kinds of conditions with this kind of suffering in the 21st century just can't be justified."

A study of public records showed at least 218 pigs died during voyages to Hawai'i between Sept. 1, 2006, and Aug. 31, 2007, for a 1.4 percent mortality rate, Jones said. That's about seven times higher than the 0.2 percent of pigs that typically die during transport nationwide, she said.

The group placed a full-page ad in The Honolulu Advertiser with the headlines: "This 4,000-mile trip to Hawaii is no pleasure cruise" and "Help end this cruel journey!"

But agriculture inspectors dispute the idea that large numbers of pigs are dying on ships.

Only about 0.4 percent of pigs shipped to the Islands between 2002 and 2007 died in transit, said Jason Moniz, program manager for livestock disease control at the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

"They travel pretty well. If there's some conditions where you have rough seas, they're going to get beaten up a little bit more," Moniz said. "From a veterinary standpoint, the results are excellent as far as death loss numbers."

The coalition of animal-protection groups called Handle with Care, which also include the Humane Society and Born Free USA, are urging pig suppliers and retailers to either sell locally raised pigs or import chilled meat from the continental U.S.

One importer, Hawaii Food Products, didn't return a phone call seeking comment. Another, Wong's Meat Market, said only the company's president could discuss the issue and he wouldn't be available until Wednesday.

Shipping company Matson Navigation requires that trained livestock tenders accompany and care for all livestock while they're at sea, said Jeff Hull, spokesman for Oakland, Calif.-based Matson.

"We make sure the tenders have all the resources available, including water, proper ventilation and proper feed supplies," Hull said. "We acknowledge that there is some mortality in transit, however, that's really beyond our control."

Hawai'i has no law restricting companies from labeling their pork as "island produced" even if the pigs were raised elsewhere and only slaughtered in the islands, said Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi.

She said there's no evidence that pork is being mislabeled.

The animal-protection campaign is meant to bring public pressure against suppliers and shippers in hopes that they'll stop hauling live animals to the Islands in poor conditions, Jones said.

Hawai'i's pig industry was targeted because it was one of four routes worldwide identified as being particularly strenuous on livestock, she said.

The others are a three-week cattle route from Brazil to the Middle East, a four-week sheep trip from Australia to the Middle East and a several-day horse shipping operation from Spain to Italy.